So I’m a big Tavor fan to begin with, and thus was extremely interested in the X95 and one of the primary reasons why I wanted to go to Bullpup 2015. In my eyes, the full length rifle is akin to the Garand, and the X95 is akin to the M14, an amazing rifle that just got better. That being said I was somewhat disappointed that IWI USA didn’t show up to the shoot, due to some conflicting times with Law Enforcement demonstrations they were putting on. Either way, they either sold an X95 prototype to Rat Worx, or let them borrow it for the shoot, but thanks to the employees of Rat Worx, Bullpup 2015 did have an X95 on hand to get some trigger time in.

Forward Rails inventiveness- In today’s world, it sometimes gets tiring of watching the same thing being reinvented, to take the picatinny to Keymod, to M Lok systems. Although what IWI did with the rail system on the X95 isn’t revolutionary, it is refreshing to see their attachment system. Basically they’ve got three rail covers that are molded to the contour of the overall handguard, and when all placed on, form an extremely smooth feel when gripping the firearm, while at the same time allowing some good ventilation to take place through their open design, and the vents in the picatinny rail itself. The attachment system is superb in that it is secure, yet a no brainer to take them off. This is usually my biggest beef with any such attachment systems is in how much effort has the manufacturer made it so easy to work, that it actually works against the weapon system and becomes a fault by allowing too easy removal, and possibly accidental removal. I cannot see that happening with the tabs on the rail covers. The bottom rail has a hand stop, because that muzzle is certainly very close to the end of the rail, and I’m sure putting a forward grip on it would alleviate it even more. What I don’t like though, are the rails themselves, but I’ll get to that in the next section.

An interesting note about the original round handguard design is that it was made that way to accommodate suppressors that were made so they would surround the barrel and then continue on further into the handguard.

A good amount of ventilation. That gun was being fired all day on full auto, and if it did get hot, I certainly didn’t feel any of it while holding it.

Press in on the bottom part of the tab, and push out to remove the cover. Bottom section comes out the same way.

Cover while on the rail, the other cover is for the other rail section.

The KRISS phenomenon- The reason why I call this the KRISS phenomenon is because one of my buddies mentioned this about the KRISS. When the submachine gun came out, everyone agreed that it was more or less great, the .45 ACP “tamed” in something the size of an Uzi. However, for us in the civilian market we had to either contend with it being an SBR, having a faux suppressor or no stock in pistol form. Either way, all three forms were almost not worthwhile enough to have the actual firearm apart from the SBR. My point is, is that the gun was designed from the ground up and for compact, full auto fire, and if you can’t have that, then the thing almost negates itself by all the other options. I apply this same logic with the X95. With it, rifle design has reached a stage where we can have a 13 inch barrel in something as long as the KRISS fully extended, in 5.56 or 5.45. So we have the ability to reach out to the ranges that a T/O rifle squad would be normally expected to perform to their maximum range (300-600 meters), in probably the most compact soon to be main issue battle rifle in the world, and not only in full auto, but insanely controllable in full auto. But that leaves us with the SBR. My whole point throughout all this, if you’ve been following me, is that if the thing isn’t in the 13 inch SBR form, then like the KRISS, in my opinion, it negates itself, and I really don’t see the point in having one for. But that’s just me, not you, so if you want that 16.5 inch barrel that appears long, go have at it. In the meantime, I think it’s a far, far better option to have an 18 inch full size Tavor, with the barrel protected almost all the way to the muzzle through the use of after market handguards, and get that maximum velocity barrel in the desired short bullpup format.

The Tackiness- In some ways it got better and in some ways it got worse. In my opinion, IWI almost purposely made the original Tavor with an odd handguard (I know it works for the Israelis, but in the States…), with a plastic safety, with a plastic charging handle, a plastic bolt hold open device, and so on. It’s almost as if they counted on the after market products to really take off with companies like Manticore, Rat Worx, Gear Head, Midwest Industries to make things like higher top rails, metal safeties, improved butt pads, and so forth. I think they worked that into the X95 in that they fixed the plastic safety with a metal one, fixed the bolt hold open with a metal one, which is great (and really one of the downfalls of the full length rifle). However what I think is ridiculous are the picatinny rails, which are all polymer. Polymer? On a combat rifle? I’m sorry but these aren’t the Nerf guns I blogged about earlier with picatinny rails, these are modern infantry rifles that need to stand up to the rigors of combat, and within that realm, plastic rails aren’t going to cut it. Now, of course Glock, M&Ps have polymer rails and they work great, I’ve certainly never seen one chipped off or broken because it was polymer but it is a lot smaller. I asked the Rat Worx rep about it and he said that IWI wanted polymer rails because of the weight reduction. To which my argument is, the weight saved by the reduced length of the rifle itself is almost enough already, I’ll take that extra couple of ounces of steel rails if that means anything mounted won’t rip off the rail with it. Interestingly enough, the original X95s with the round handguards did have metal rails instead of the polymer ones.

Then we have the removable polymer handguard or trigger guard. The X95 can come with both options, either having a protective handguard, or a small trigger guard. Personally I think the protective handguard is the way to go, because of that protection that it affords the entire grip. In addition it lends itself nicely to a hasty foregrip and it falls into place with how the Israelis teach their fundamentals of shooting by resting the rifle against the left forearm as the left hand grips the actual handguard. Personally I’d prefer a solid grip instead of one that could get ripped off if enough force was applied to it. But then again this is coming from the guy who dummy cords everything and ratchets his bicycle car mount down with steel wire. However, having that option for a user configurable handguard/triggerguard does have a distinct advantage.

The removable handguard/triggerguard, you can see the seams where it can be taken off. The grip panels can also be changed out for different style or larger grips. The “R” stands for Repetition, coming from the British use of it on their select fire weapons. The safety is metal.

Controllable on Full Auto- From most of the potential buyers of the rifle (to include me) the full auto selection unfortunately won’t be in the cards. Regardless, I’ll cover it in this review. Watching the video of myself firing it on full auto, it appears that the gun almost rocked downward, but that just might be because of my abysmal performance with the FNC video and learning from it and getting a better grip on it. The actual engagement of automatic fire is the same as the AUG trigger in that the shooter pulls the trigger completely to the rear for auto, but only half way for single shots. Takes a bit to get used to, but the system is absolutely brilliant. Single shots are cake, but when you want full auto, that long trigger pull is all that has to happen. This all takes place while the selector is switched to “A” of course and not on “R” for semiautomatic fire.

Another thing you might notice is that the butt pad is completely flat compared to the full length rifle with the pad that sticks out. One of the reasons for that extra length was to make it fully compatible with current US regulations regarding length, however with the X95 being an SBR to begin with, this didn’t have to be met. In addition the shape of that buttpad and the receiver itself makes it similar to the P90 in shape and thus certainly helps with recoil mitigation, making it able to really nicely tuck it into a shoulder pocket.

User controls- The largest difference between the full length rifle and the X95 is the new placement of the ambidextrous magazine release above the trigger, exactly where it should have been on the rifle. People tend to think of the Tavor as a 2000s invention but the thing has been around in protype form since the 1990s, so seeing that the magazine release was in an odd place in front of the magazine doesn’t seem so out of place after all considering the time it came in and the need for experimentation. In addition because the length has been reduced, the charging handle slot has been moved closer to the trigger as well, directly on top of it actually. This is excellent as handling the charging handle is almost like operating a handgun slide, directly on top of the trigger. In addition to that change, the charging handle itself is beefer and much more robust than the full length rifle one.

My biggest issue with the controls on both the X95 and the full length rifle is the position of the bolt lever in the rear of the magazine. Its speed in actuating the bolt is certainly unmatched when it comes to other bolt release systems in other rifles, but what about manipulating the rifle to fix malfunctions? During a malfunction of any sort, the primary goal should be to lock the bolt to the rear, then proceed to deal with the malfunction, whether that is ripping the magazine out or clearing the chamber. Well you can do that with any model of the Tavor but you have this odd combination of holding the rifle to rear by charging the bolt handle, then bringing your right hand back to press down on the bolt release. All the while there isn’t any positive control on the actual rifle because both hands are in this coordinated motion and the rifle is most likely up in the air, and not pointed downrange where it should be. I really think that the release should take the position of the old magazine release, that way the shooter can maintain his position, even looking through his optic, while simultaneously attending to the malfunction. Granted, most shooters are going to be doing more magazine changes than fixing malfunctions (or at least I hope!), but I see this as a flaw in the design that any amount of user operation can’t get around.

I saw it too, marked in the USA. Although that’s probably all it is as the serial number count is pretty high so this one was probably imported from Israel and just marked in the US. But, this is a good indication that IWI is serious about bringing it to the US market.

The safety isn’t ambidextrous, but I’m sure it can be switched to the opposite side.

Would I buy it?- Despite my issues with the plastic rails and removable grip, I’d absolutely be buying this thing, but only in its SBR form as I mentioned earlier with the KRISS phenomenon. Having a legal 16 inch barrel on the X95 almost negates the compactness it offers, and at that point I’ll take the extra 2 inches with the 18 inch rifle that’ll truly optimize the 5.56 round in terms of velocity. When will it be available for sale and for what MSRP? I haven’t heard anything at this point, Tim from Military Arms Channel said it would be two years, and his article was written in 2013. Now it’s almost done with 2015 and still no word on release dates and prices. For Tavor fans already out there, the great thing about the X95 is the backwards compatibility of it with the full length rifle in terms of the bolt group and various other small parts, in addition to the familiarity of the user controls and rifle itself.

So most of my current Tavor accessories will fit in the new one? Glory Hallelujah! This X95 doesn’t seem to have the interchangeable grip groups, an added plus in my book.

This is probably what the X95 would look like when it comes to the civilian market in a legal length barrel.

I wanted to just put every Youtube video I could find on here, to make this post really comprehensive and thus you could get a glimpse of the X95 from every angle so to speak. But I’ll just post the one that I think does into some details that others don’t, and that is from TV Press Pass.

Former Infantry Marine, and currently studying at Indiana University. I’ve written for Small Arms Review and Small Arms Defense Journal, and have had a teenie tiny photo that appeared in GQ. Specifically, I’m very interested in small arms history, development, and Military/LE usage within the Middle East, and Central Asia.

If you want to reach out, let me know about an error I’ve made, something I can add to the post, or just talk guns and how much Grunts love naps, hit me up at miles@tfb.tv

“Boycott”? Those “poor quality” rifles have been serving Israeli infantry brigades for a long time now. The first hand accounts I heard were

indicative of extreme abuse they go through with utter reliability and combat precision. In fact, they simply call it “a hammer”. I am sure Steyr will eventually improve the AUG to satisfy the Aussies, and whoever else is willing to deal with it.

I don’t like the Steyer for alot of reasons. Doesn’t lend itself well to a suppressor, most are 20 or 30 years old, New Zealand is ditching in favor of an AR platform, the thing bleeds gas like no other, and I thought the Tavor controls are odd, the AUG takes it to a new level. It was an awesome gun when it came it, circa 1970s/80s, but today it has been surpassed.

Honestly haven’t touched one so I can’t fully say anything on it. I’m sure it is great, just from the small amount I’ve seen in pictures and news. However the F90 seemed to have picked up where the AUG left off in modernization and that’s a good thing.

iksnilol

I doubt the Tavor is any better for suppression. Both suck suppressed if you don’t have an adjustable gas block.

A bit unfair to compare worn examples to new manufacture?

Kivaari

I’ve used them with a can. It was quite OK, and that was with an ancient and large can. The new cans are wonderfully smaller, lighter and more effective.

Mark

You parrot hasbara to improve interest in a shoddy product.

Al

It would helpful to me, Mark, if you could provide me with your reasoning behind the statements you are making. Maybe you could also share some real life expereince to strengthen your position? Clearly, I need someone to clear my foggy mind and get rid of that evil hasbara nonsense.

Mark

As far as the Tavor… gritty creepy trigger compared to the competition. Poor fit and poor workmanship. Overheats quickly.

It is the Yugo of firearms. 🙂

I am sure that the manufacturer’s hasbara disagrees.

Al

And the AUG?

Mark

Great fit, finish, and reliability. Great single stage trigger… now updated for increased optics selection. Long strings of fire, even full auto, without burning support hand.

Mark

Asked and answered.

Al

You certainly did 🙂 I think I’ll keep my Tavor.

Mark

Suum cuique.

Al

You are right. We all make choices. The world is divided into two types of people. One type is trying to make decisions based on facts rooted in reality, and the other type is trying to bend reality based on ideological decisions they already made. I am interested in the former.

Mark

How amusing that you take an opposing opinion about a firearm so personally. Unwind a little 🙂

Simcha M.

Al, Mark is well-known to this blog as a Leftist and a Jew-baiter. Just ignore him, he’ll go away.

Mark

Sorry, you are wrong again. Besides, not every American needs a thought cop to police their opinions.

Al

Thanks for the heads up! 🙂

Nick

That MDR will probably be really good, but the AUG is exceedingly outdated. I like the barrel swapping ability on it, but that’s it.

I’d love another Tavor in 300AAC (hint hint IWI).

kregano

Supposedly Gearhead Works has a .300 Blackout conversion kit for the Tavor that they showed off at the Bullpup Shoot, so if IWI doesn’t make one for the X95, they’re the go-to guys for that.

Gearhead Works has a .300 Blackout barrel, but Paul is having some issues with certain brands of ammo that he will be working out, until then he won’t release it to the public. I’ll be posting about that soon as well, he built a complete jig of a rifle to test the barrel in, pretty neat.

Mark

The AUG has been updated and remains a better option that IWI.

Bill

The AUG is pretty much the benchmark to compare other pups to. I had hopes for the FN 2000, but it sort of faded.

Mark

…as I have high hopes for the Desert Tech MDR. The high quality of Desert Tech’s SRS and HTI give good reason that their first autoloader will handily beat IWI on all counts.

Rick5555

If the MDR isn’t priced right and bad timing in releasing the MDR. It could be a flop. I have high expectations for the MDR. I don’t doubt the quality in what Desert Tech produces. However, if the X-95 came out the same time as the MDR and the X95 is $1700. Compared to the MDR at $2300. Then the X95 will sell out. And sales will be slow for the MDR. Been waiting 2 years for the MDR. So hope it’s released soon.

Kivaari

I never liked the folding handle. A real hand guard would be so much better. With heat shields of course. Almost all the new metal hand guards for the M4 family don’t have heat shields. Colt’s M6940 has them, why don’t others?

john huscio

People apparently are still crowing about this desert tech stuff even though its still not in production and still not on shelves ready to buy……

Mark

…and people are still braying against at least two options much better than IWI, on or off the shelf.

Rick5555

And that would be which Bull Pup? The Kel-Tec RFB or RDB (not out yet)? The Tavor is a find Firearm and seems to work quite well with the IDF in a combat/desert environment. What more can one ask for. I was one of those people exited about the Desert Tech MDR. However, DT announced the MDR at Shot Show 2014..where I saw it for the first time….well a plastic shell of it. Shot Show 2015, the MDR should be out in 2nd quarter of 2015. I believe the MDR is coming soon. But, if it’s isn’t at $1600 or lower. Then, I don’t see great sales. And I bet the MDR will be more like $2300-$2600. For a bull pup…no thank you.

n0truscotsman

There are no bullpups that are *better* overall than the Tavor. Not the FS2000, not the antiquated civie AUGs, not the Kel-techs, or anything else in between…That is not even getting into the price.

Lots of talk about the Desert Tech, but, as usual with new fads (remember the ACR?), its attributes remain to be seen. It has a high bar to jump over.

Mark

As I said, Suum cuique (And to each, his own [preference]). All bullpups share the same weakness—weak-side barricade. Desert Tech’s MDR and MDR-C promise to overcome that weakness. We will see. As for me, based on Desert Tech’s offerings so far, I am optimistic. In the meantime, if I am pressed to choose a bullpup autoloader, I say “AUG.” Suum cuique!

Simcha M.

You wouldn’t be a fanboy of the “BDS” movement, now would you, Mark??

Mark

What is the “BDS” movement?

Mark Wa

Mark are you the guy who got banned from BullPup Forum for trolling?

Mark

No, I am not that person. I like the AUG for play, but, since all autoloading bullpups are useless for weak-hand barricades, I am not enthusiastic enough to seek out a forum on bullpups. As I said, I am hopeful for Desert Tech’s MDR to overcome the weak-side problem.

Your turn to answer a question or two: Why don’t you address the issue, the gun, instead of making personal innuendo? Must everyone share your opinion on a firearm or be subject to your inquisition and innuendo?

n0truscotsman

Yeah, I dont think so.

I own a Tavor and have owned a semi-auto AUG, and the two, ergonomics-wise, dont even compare. Even the FS2000 doesn’t compare.

The Tavor is a far more suitable rifle for ergonomics.

Reliability? they have slightly different gas system designs, but are undoubtedly similar in performance. The AUG might have caught up to the Tavor with newer modifications (F90), although, Ive never handled or seen one.

If there are any criticisms of the Tavor, “poor quality” complaints aren’t among them.

Mark

More Tavor hasbara.

Joe Schmoe

Anymore trolling or are you done yet?

Mark

I see. Having a different opinion from you constitutes “trolling.” Better I should join your groupthink?

Joe Schmoe

Sure, when your only replies to comments is “hasbarah” (do you even know what that word means?), it is.

Mark

I see. Thought cop AND word cop. Just what American needs and stands for?

Esh325

Having only held a tavor I remember bring extremely impressed by the balance. It certainly seems to be the one of the most impressive bullpup out there

PK

The only bullpup I enjoy more is the PS90 with original 10.3″ barrel.

Rick5555

I really like my 2 Tavors. Only complaint is it is heavy for a bullpup. However, liked the Tavor enough to get another one, which is dedicated in 9mm.

Joe Schmoe

I’ll be honest, when I held the X-95 (the IDF version with all the goodies attached), I was a bit surprised by how…. compact the weight felt, and it was mostly to the rear.

It feels a bit different in hand to the TAR-21, for better or for worse I don’t know, I only shot the TAR-21 in the army. I’m supposed to be transferred over to the X-95 in the reserves within the next year or two, so if that ever happens I’ll leave my feedback here.

kregano

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind an X95 with the longer barrel since it has all the improvements you mentioned. Sooner or later, someone would come up with an aftermarket handguard to make the 16.5 barrel look less goofy.

If someone makes a .300 Blackout kit for it really quickly, then the SBR will be worth having.

RocketScientist

Agreed. In the process of making a .300 blk SBR AR. Would much prefer this bullpup.

iksnilol

What about 300 BLK bullpup SBR? Like, the X95 with a 9 inch barrel.

kregano

I don’t know if you’d want a 9in barrel on an X95, at least not without the right hand guard for it. It would be WAY inside the hand guard, based on the pictures here.

iksnilol

I know, use it pistol style! Or just put on a suppressor.

Tom

Even if there is no option for a longer hand guard then I am sure someone will introduce a “fox” suppressor for it :).

C.

I’m hoping for a longer handguard and a bayonet lug.

Kivaari

These rifles are very oddly shaped for use with a bayonet. I did like the little knife used on the Uzi. They were so well liked that IDF stopped issuing them. Too many members “lost” them. They paid for them and then they became legal when found at home.

Stephen

The sentence structure of this article made it very difficult to follow at certain points. Just a little feedback.

I want to see some tests on aluminum vs polymer rails. I’m not convinced your concerns are warranted.

Thanks for the coverage.

Aaron M. Orr

I have to agree. Polymer rails may be bad, they may be good, or they may be a non issue. Part of being a journalist is to just report facts, not interject your opinions into the article. Otherwise we may as well call this an op-ed blog rather than a reporting blog.

Kivaari

Polymer would likely be OK. I would not want steel as the author desired. Hard aluminum would be fine.

This is a review, and in a review, I put my personal opinions on what I reviewed. If it were a daily post, I would be more objective.

Kivaari

Agreed. I finished the article and asked myself, what did I just read? It’s about a Tavor, I think.

Joe Schmoe

I, and nearly all the other soldiers I know, used polymer rails on their rifles during our service. Never heard ever (!) of a single problem with them. In fact, I really liked them since you could….customize them. I took a saw and spent around 20 minutes hacking a polymer rail to shorten it to my needs to I could mount a a foregrip and a bipod in front of it. They weighed nothing and also didn’t get really hot or cold, and didn’t rust.

In short, there is nothing wrong with Polymer rails from my first hand experience, and in fact there are a lot of advantages.

You in what army? I don’t know of a single small arm in active duty use in the U.S Marine Corps that uses polymer rails, and I’m very sure that goes the same with the U.S. Army, whom I assume you served with. For that matter, I haven’t seen a single M249 SAW, in service with Marines, Soldiers, Brits, or Afghans for that matter, that had polymer rails. In addition to that, you were were sawing off bits of your rail system? Either you had a lax armory that didn’t care what you did to your weapon systems, or you snuck under the cracks with turning it back in. Either way, I stick firmly to my point, that if a weapon system is to be used as a combat rifle, by frontline infantry, it shouldn’t have polymer rails.

Joe Schmoe

I was in the IDF 🙂

And like I said, of all the problems I’ve ever heard of or encountered in the army with firearms, I’ve never heard a SINGLE issue with polymer rails. I used it on my carbine for years, both in active service and in reserves, never had one compliant.

Here is the carbine I used for most of my service. As you can see, I mounted the foregrip using a polymer rail that I shortened in order to fit the bipod (which I attached to the sling holes). Was rock solid.

EDIT: (btw, I the blurred parts are unit symbols that I touched over)

Joe Schmoe

Here, on a previous set-up of the carbine (aimed more for urban operations) you can see the original length polymer rail.

Old Fart

I don’t want a Tavor, I want this in 16″. I’m pretty sure the good folks at IWI are working on it.

Glad you had the chance to tinker at the 2015 Bullpup Shoot! I was sad to miss it this year!

Axel

Please keep comparability with after market tavor triggers IWI…

Axel

compatibility*

Simcha M.

Kol HaKavode le’Tsahal”!!

patrickiv

Embrace the polymer…

NewMan

Plastic rails are unacceptable, considering a lot of mounts are aluminum they’ll likely be hard on the soft plastic rails (lots of dings and chew away plastics). Worse, the top rail isn’t removable and molded directly onto the receiver.. So there goes any hope of after market aluminum rails replacement.

Joe Schmoe

You’re forgetting that these rifles were issued to a conscript army that is known to be one of the most abusive to their firearms in the world. If there was a problem with polymer rails not withstanding abuse, it would have been known by now 😀 .

I might be wrong about this, but I don’t think the top rail is polymer, but rather aluminum. Look at the picture I have of the tan X95/Tavor. Both have a black top rail, while all the other pieces of the rifle are polymer. Then again, I might be wrong.

NewMan

I didn’t notice the tan X95 – my mistake. It just that I noticed the writer/reviewer complain about plastic rails, so which rails are plastic? Perhaps the handguard’s rails?

joedeats

Here I get all excited because you mention the M14 and I’m thinking this is going to be a Tavor bull pup 308……nope it’s a smaller poodle shooter….oh yeah, nifty, just what mom ordered (note sarcasm).

Note to industry, a new 7.62×51 battle rifle is needed, bull pup config would be grand, widely available magazines that are cheap would be very nice. Something that actually works would be great (I know I know I’m getting picky) NO MORE POODLE SHOOTERS….

NukeItFromOrbit

I’d love to see the Tavor itself upgraded with the improved mag release and the optional new trigger-guard of the X95.